I was referring to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie the Great, the world's last true philosopher king, the staunch anti-communist whose African pride still trained Nelson Mandela to be a guerrilla and personally gave him a Makarov to smash Apartheid.
None of the Kims, Deng Xiao Ping, or Meles Zenawi could hold a match to H.I.M. in terms of charisma and wisdom. Seriously, either Prince Ermias or Crown Prince Zara Yakob would be better heads of state than the puppets of the Neo-Apartheidist Tigrean kleptocracy who are leading Ethiopia now. The Ethiopian Presidency is the most useless lame duck office ever created, while the winner takes all Prime Minister upsets the entire separation of powers. Kim Jung Un is a monarch in all but name, with all the power of an Oriental Tyrant but none of the manners or refinement of one. Seriously, what did they teach him in Switzerland other than to be an elite overweight twit?
BTW I am an Post-Rastafarian teacher of Amharic whose Rastafarian Order's chapter folded and wandered over to Ethiopian Orthodoxy. While Ethiopians lagged behind in technology, they had enough exposure to the Greek and Arabic cultures that what they lacked in technology they overcompensated in rhetoric, logic, and debate. This heritage is reflected in a penchant for debate among the expatriate community since the opposition parties have been crushed. I have been exposed to them enough that despite being a Ferenj, I have been drawn into their culture of debate.
I cringe at the prospect of the opposition in Ethiopia being permanently ossified and toothless like the minor political parties in the PRC or the opposition parties of PRI dominated 20th century Mexico, but that does seem to be where things are going.
I think there are a lot more Unions of Chinese men and African women than of African men and Chinese women. The fact that his wife is from the Northwest speaks volumes. It is an impoverished and neglected region, and if his wife is from one of the minorities in China, it would make total sense. But love conquers all.